A couple of months ago I finished reading Humankind, a book that greatly impacted me. While reading it, I had the feeling that I was learning a lot and changing many perspectives. I wanted to upload something to my youtube channel about those learnings, but when trying to clearly communicate what exactly left an impact on me, I found myself overwhelmed. I realised that I needed a deeper study of the book and its ideas. In short: I read the whole book and felt touched by it. But I cannot precisely point out the learnings I extracted, and can much less lead an argument about the ideas I "learned".
At least I am not the only one
For a class at uni, I had to learn about quantum teleportation. I had no idea about it. After a bit of googling, I stumbled upon this series of essays. The most interesting fact about the essays was not the topic they tried to teach — Quantum Computing — but rather the distinctive approach they took to teaching it.
Andy Matuschak and Michael Nielsen - the authors of the series of essays - use flashcards with simple questions to cement in the reader what they are trying to teach. The idea behind the flashcards is to make the reader engage with the content. The class I had to learn this for was more than a year ago, and I still remember some of the concepts taught in that article.
In fact, Andy Matushak wrote a whole article explaining Why books don't work: They are based on "transmissionism" - the idea that the writer transmits the knowledge to the reader just by explaining it - which is entirely wrong. To gain knowledge and understanding, it is key to engage with the content. In other words: to write and/or discuss it. That is the first reason why I decided to start this newsletter. To engage with the content I come upon and gain a better understanding of it.
Writing as the ultimate test
I admire Paul Graham, one of the founders of Y Combinator, a highly successful start-up accelerator. He has a website with a design that has not changed since the dawn of the internet, but where he publishes his essays. In one of them, he writes about Putting Ideas into Words.
I can only recommend reading it. In short, he describes how writing about something works as a test: It helps you understand what you don't understand and in the process of it, come up with more (and better) ideas.
That is the second reason I decided that I needed to start writing: to avoid thinking I understand my ideas, but really being sure I do. And in the process gain more ideas to explore in the future.
Working with the garage door open
The last two arguments were about the importance of writing. But that can perfectly happen privately without the need of publishing whatever I write about.
But I am convinced that an idea can only become something more by sharing it. It is your perspectives that I am after by starting to publish this. You will know something or someone I don't, which can help me iterate over any idea I write about. If I am not corrected on anything I write here, I will continue to have a worldview that does not reflect reality.
And your responses are not only helpful to me. If I happen to write something you are interested in, just reading and forgetting about it is not in your interest. You want to engage with it. I have not built any fancy flashcards like Andy Matushak and Michael Nielsen. But you can simply respond to this with an email that will help you engage with my content, understand it better, and through a conversation, maybe gain a new perspective you did not have before.
Ok, I get the why. But what will I find here?
Well, good question. In a similar fashion to my YouTube channel, I am starting this without a clear route on where this will lead us. I only have a rough direction: I see my purpose as fighting inequality with innovation. That purpose is currently reflected in:
Starting an ed-tech startup in Colombia (my country of origin). A first launch will come soon so stay tuned (by e.g. subscribing to this). An important way to fight inequality is through a better education system, which is what we are aiming at by founding in the space.
Reading about development economics. I studied computer science and besides the principle of supply and demand, my knowledge of economics is very close to zero. In order to understand the big picture, I must read (and engage, AKA write) about the topic.
Looking for a place to volunteer - it has proven a bit harder than expected, but I am confident to start volunteering soon and as often as time permits it (aiming at once a week). I am sure this will provide me with many new perspectives on my privileges and the big problems humanity faces (like hunger and poverty).
About me
If you came this far without knowing me - well, thank you for staying! Here is a short intro: I went to a german school in Colombia and then studied Computer Science in Munich. I am currently starting to apply what I have learned studying in Colombia, which translates to a phase of my life with some uncertainty and suspense. I’m kinda going on an adventure. Subscribe to be part of it.
Note about the subscription: I am not planning on “going paid” here. The goal is to share my ideas. Your reads, comments and responses are the only payment I’m after.